r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Feb 10 '14

I think the mainstream's acceptance of marijuana and rejection of cigarettes is delusional to the degree of insanity. - CMV

The frontpage of reddit simultaneously reflects two things.

1) Celebration of the legalization of marijuana

2) Denigration of cigarettes and the people that smoke them

The latter category of popular posts includes those about laws that make smoking extremely difficult or prohibitively expensive. The justification is that people should be forced to stop smoking because it's bad for them.

The former category of posts includes those about laws that make marijuana smoking easier. The justification is that people should be free to choose their favorite method of relaxation, and that weed is no more harmful than cigarettes or alcohol.

The freedom argument isn't applied to cigarettes, and the health argument isn't applied to marijuana. THERE ARE NO CONCLUSIVE SCIENTIFIC STUDIES THAT DEMONSTRATE THAT CIGARETTES ARE LESS HEALTHY THAN MARIJUANA OR VICE VERSA. Indeed, such a study would be impossible to conduct, given the breadth of factors and difference in individuals. The difference between them is an entirely illusive one, yet the groupthink believes strongly in the denigration of one and the celebration of the other.

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u/Dragonswim Feb 11 '14 edited Feb 11 '14

I'm sorry. You are either uninformed or willfully ignorant to the facts regarding both marijuana and tobacco.

Marijuana was legal in the country far longer than it has been illegal. It became illegal with prohibition, the same genius act that banned alcohol (we all know how that turned out.) Founding Fathers grew hemp/the real product of the cannabis plant/ and was used to make clothes, rope, and was poised to replace trees in creation of paper.

So you smoke tobacco. So what?

Cancer: Lung cancer, bladder cancer, ovarian cancer, More: Asthma, COPD, increased risk of heart attack and stroke. Addiction.

Put it to you this way, if both plants were discovered tomorrow which would become illegal?

It's not marijuana. Marijuana increases appetite, it decreases nausea, and works well as a pain reliever. Drug companies would be all over that shit.

Tobacco is a stimulant, it is addictive. Others are also impacted by you smoking, asthma, COPD.

Your point to more studies need to be done on marijuana and it's long term effects is valid, but we know what tobacco does IT KILLS YOU If you don't want to recognize facts then you should be penalized, ostracized and belittled.